The Formless Shadow, After the Wildcat Yokai Legend (2)
The TV droned on with one breaking report after another.
Beep.
Lee Han-ul, director of the Jirisan Yokai Hunter Office, pressed the remote with a complicated expression and turned off the television. Every channel was still obsessing over the Formless Shadow incident. And it was no wonder.
Hundreds of civilian deaths. Zero civilian injuries. The complete annihilation of the Jangshan Yokai Hunter Office. The total destruction of an entire yokai-extermination battalion. Two Force Arts masters dead, one critically wounded. One Taoist master killed. The damage was catastrophic.
Since it was the deadliest incident since the founding of the nation, both domestic and international media had descended on the story like vultures. Was there a connection to the recent surge in increasingly powerful yokai? Why couldn’t they have been stopped in advance? Who was this Taoist genius who had appeared like a comet, the man nicknamed the reincarnation of Jeon Woo-chi—Hojun? And above all…
Who was the mysterious helper?
Naturally, Lee Han-ul was one of the few people who knew exactly who that helper was. After all, he was the one who had sent her down to Busan in the first place.
If Miho hadn’t been there…
They might have eventually taken down the yokai called the Formless Shadow through sheer overwhelming force, but the casualties would have been two times, three times… perhaps even ten times worse. In that sense, sending Miho to Busan despite the enormous risk had been, without exaggeration, one of the best decisions of his entire life.
The same went for the Jirisan Yokai Hunter Office. If the blue-flame nine-tailed fox had appeared back then without Miho… well, there were only two possible outcomes. Either he would already be dead, or he would still be alive as a fox-spirit meat warehouse that refused to die. Lee Ha-neul, who had come as backup, would have died as well. The second wave of reinforcements would have been wiped out too. Only the third wave might have barely managed to exterminate the beast.
Who knows—without Miho, the damage in Busan might have been just as horrifying.
…This can’t go on.
The director felt a deep sense of crisis. If a powerful yokai had appeared in Jirisan while she was away in Busan… just imagining it made his blood run cold. He was grateful they had formed a solid alliance with Miho, but they couldn’t keep relying on her forever. This was already the third time—first the blue-flame nine-tailed fox, then the wildcat yokai, and now this. A creeping anxiety gnawed at him, the feeling that some terrible disaster was looming just over the horizon.
When Miho returned, even someone like the director—who had never once fallen for her charms—couldn’t help but let out a stunned gasp. She had gained another tail, and it wasn’t just the tail. Her figure had become even more alluring. Her breasts were noticeably larger, and her hips seemed… well, he hadn’t exactly been staring, so he couldn’t be entirely sure about the hips. But the chest? Definitely bigger.
After all, she was a fox spirit born to seduce humans; her body had simply evolved that way. Still, there was one strange thing. Even when she revealed all seven tails, the yokai-detection radar picked up absolutely no demonic energy from her.
The director had naturally called her in to discuss the phenomenon, but her only answer had been, “I don’t know either.” She thought she might have evolved from a yokai into a spiritual beast, but she wasn’t sure. There were spiritual beasts in the Hidden World who might know more, so she’d ask them and get back to him.
Then why the hell was she still lounging around the Yokai Hunter Office three whole days after the Busan incident instead of going straight to the Hidden World to find out?
The director let out a long, heavy sigh.
Lee Ha-neul was in a terrible mood. Two of her fellow Force Arts masters had died. There was no way she could feel good about that. Force Arts users were so rare that they all knew one another. The two who had fallen in Busan had been precious comrades to her.
Everyone in this dangerous line of work lived with the knowledge that they could die at any moment, but she had never imagined losing her colleagues so suddenly.
Still… at least one person had survived thanks to Miho. That was something to be grateful for, she supposed.
“Haa…”
Feeling gloomy, Lee Ha-neul decided to go see Miho. She grabbed a pack of dog treats and headed toward the fox’s usual spot. It was obvious where she would be. She was probably out in the grassy courtyard in front of the office, happily getting sprayed by the sprinklers.
Since it was work hours, no one was around to bother her. She walked toward the courtyard with a bright smile, already imagining how soft Miho’s fur would feel under her hand.
Then she saw her.
And immediately lost the ability to speak.
“Grrrrrrng~”
Swish swish.
Seven luxurious tails waved lazily through the air.
What was I doing, you ask? Lying on my back in the grass with my belly exposed, enjoying the cool spray from the sprinklers.
Sniff sniff. Sniff sniff sniff.
Oh. Something smelled delicious. That was… dog treats. Definitely dog treats.
I rolled over and looked around. There stood Lee Ha-neul, staring at me with an utterly dumbfounded expression.
What’s with that face all of a sudden? If you’re here to play, just give me the treats and pet me already.
Tap tap tap tap.
I scampered over to her on all fours.
“Grrrrrrng~”
I started making cute little whining noises.
“Whine whine.”
Hurry up and give me the treats. Hurry up and pet me. That was the signal.
“…”
What are you doing? Stop staring and start petting me, you idiot.
“Miho…”
“Whine?”
“You… do you realize you’re in human form right now…?”
“What the hell are you talking abou—oh.”
Why were human words coming out of my mouth?
Aha. I was still transformed.
Which meant… I had been lying on my back with my belly out, purring like an idiot, walking around on all fours—in full human form. And Lee Ha-neul had seen the entire thing.
“…”
“…”
Ah, shit.
This was serious. Like, really, really fucking serious.
I wasn’t some forgetful fox spirit with dementia, nor was I an absolute airhead. No matter how good I was feeling, forgetting that I was in human form and showing such a pathetic, animalistic display right in front of Lee Ha-neul… yeah. This was a problem.
With that in mind, I asked her for a favor. I wanted to run some experiments and needed her help. Her answer was, of course, an enthusiastic yes.
“So what exactly do you want to test?”
“Instinct experiments.”
“…Instinct?”
“Yep.”
Humans had instincts too, obviously, but human instincts and animal instincts were fundamentally different. Human instincts could be modified or suppressed through learning and experience. Animal instincts, on the other hand, were almost impossible to change once ingrained.
The reason I was bringing this up was simple. Ever since I had unleashed my seventh tail, suppressing my instincts had become nearly impossible—even while transformed into a human. The moment I released all seven tails, my five senses had sharpened dramatically, and it felt like every last one of my fox-spirit instincts had been completely liberated.
First, I transformed into my three-tailed state—the appearance of a ten-year-old girl. Immediately, demonic energy rather than spiritual power began flowing from my body. So it really did switch to consuming demonic energy once I went past six tails. Thankfully, ever since gaining the seventh tail, my control over demonic energy had improved so much that I could now maintain the three-tailed form indefinitely.
“So cuuuuuuuuuute!”
As soon as I took on the little-kid form, Lee Ha-neul squealed with excitement and started aggressively petting my head. Perfect. That was exactly the reaction I’d been hoping for.
I focused on the sensation of her hand while carefully observing my own tails.
Swish… swish…
They were only moving a tiny bit. Proof that I wasn’t that happy. Good. Experiment results already in. From now on, whenever I spent time at the Yokai Hunter Office, I would stay in three-tailed mode. No exceptions.
Next up: six tails.
Poof!
The moment I released six tails, Lee Ha-neul clicked her tongue in clear disappointment.
“Hm.”
“What are you waiting for? Pet me already.”
I shoved my head under her hand. She began stroking me with obvious reluctance. It wasn’t coming from the heart—this was purely because I had asked. Even so, the six tails above my hips started wagging wildly back and forth. Clear evidence of how good it felt.
Finally… seven tails.
Pooooof!
In an instant I went from a little kid to a voluptuous adult woman. Lee Ha-neul’s face twisted with visible discomfort.
“Do I really have to pet you? This feels… weird…”
“It’s an important experiment.”
“Ugh… the little Miho is so much cuter… This version is just creepy. And why the hell are your breasts so big?”
“Just do it.”
I pushed my head forward again. This time she started petting me with completely mechanical, half-hearted motions.
“Grrrrrrrrng~”
“W-what the—why are you suddenly—!”
“Huff, huff, huff, huff, huff.”
Swishswishswishswishswish.
Fwumpfwumpfwumpfwump!
My tails spun like helicopter blades. A long strand of sticky drool dripped from my lolling tongue and splattered onto the ground.
More. More. More petting. Moreeee.
“That’s it, I’m done! This is gross! It’s weird!”
“Huffhuffhuffhuff.”
Where do you think you’re going? Get back here, you damn woman.